Dovetail co-founders Ash Fogelberg and Nick Frandsen
Based in Sydney and Auckland, Dovetail is a full-service enterprise studio that works carefully with founders who’ve an ideal concept, however might lack technical backgrounds. Dovetail helps them construct firms from the bottom up, getting ready them for development and extra funding. Founded in 2014, Dovetail’s success tales embody Afterpay, the Melbourne-headquartered unicorn that is without doubt one of the highest-profile gamers within the purchase now, play later area, together with Klarna and Affirm.
“People can think of us as the technical co-founder, responsible for driving and executing product strategy, design and the development of scalable products,” Dovetail co-founder Nick Frandsen informed TechCrunch.
Dovetail is at present elevating a $10 million AUD (about $7.5 million USD) fund that shall be used for seed, Series A and Series B rounds in 15 of probably the most promising firms which have gone by its enterprise studio program. As an investor, Dovetail has written examine sizes starting from $150,000 to $1 million AUD.
One of Dovetail’s targets is put together startups to hunt funding from different VCs; corporations which have invested in Dovetail’s portfolio firms embody Blackbird, Qantas and Wavemaker.
“By the time we need to make an investment decision, we would have worked collaboratively on a day-to-day basis with them for at least three months prior to a seed round and 12 months for a Series A. This means we’re essentially investing with the informational edge of a co-founder,” mentioned Frandsen. “Another trait that makes Dovetail unique is that we share our ownership in our portfolio companies with the entire team. This further drives unity, dedication and a desire to succeed from our team.”
Dovetail started working with Afterpay in 2017, when the corporate had lower than 40 staff. Frandsen mentioned Afterpay’s founders, Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen, had been searching for a digital product growth companion to construct and scale their cellular and internet apps. While each had deep expertise in monetary providers, they got here from non-technical backgrounds. That’s the place Dovetail got here into play, constructing out Afterpay’s tech platforms and serving to launch its consumer-facing merchandise.
Some different notable startups which have gone by its enterprise studio program are useful resource planning SaaS platform Runn; one-click invoicing instrument Marmalade; Provider Choice, a administration platform for suppliers in Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme; Landmarks ID, a privacy-compliant cellular location intelligence platform for entrepreneurs; and Fluenccy, a service that helps importers and exporters lower your expenses on international alternate.
Before they began Dovetail, Frandsen and co-founder Ash Fogelberg’s startup, ticketing and funds platform 1-Night, was acquired by TicketDirect in 2013.
Dovetail’s enterprise studio is sector-agnostic (although it has robust expertise in fintech, SaaS and marketplaces), and works with startups that won’t have a product but, however have founders who “are ambitious, commercially-savvy and bring industry expertise from the field in which they are trying to solve a problem,” mentioned Frandsen.
When deciding what founders to work with, Dovetail considers on the viability and development potential of their concept.This consists of how well-suited founders are to the problem, if there’s sufficient market potential for the startup to develop into a big firm and the way a lot competitors there’s.
Dovetail has a product company that serves principally U.S. firms, however its enterprise studio is at present targeted on Australasian startups, with plans to broaden into North America sooner or later.
“We are actively seeking industries that are large yet underappreciated by the startup community,” Frandsen mentioned. “We’re looking for ideas. that require hard-earned industry experience and can’t easily be replicated by teams of young aspiring entrepreneurs.”
